Decision Day in America

President Barack Obama won re-election Tuesday in a closely fought race.

Updated Nov. 7, 2012 6:39 a.m. ET

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President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of supporters in Chicago. 'We may have battled fiercely, but it is only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future,' the president said in his victory speech.
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Mr. Obama talked to Vice President Joe Biden after his victory speech Wednesday. Mr. Obama sealed his victory with wins in swing states including Ohio, Colorado and Virginia.
Larry Downing/Reuters…

People celebrated in front of the White House with a cardboard cutout of Mr. Obama.
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People celebrated in Times Square, New York.
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Mitt Romney arrived to his election night rally in Boston. 'I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction. But the nation chose another leader,' he said in his concession speech.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters…

People watched results at a party hosted by the U.S. embassy and German Telekom in Berlin on Wednesday.
Markus Schreiber/Associated Press…

Members of the media waited for Mr. Obama before his election night rally in Chicago.
Larry Downing/Reuters…

Joan Brock, of Clearwater, Fla., cheered as results were reported during the Pinellas County Republican Party celebration at the Carillon Hilton hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla. With about two-thirds of precincts reporting in the coveted battleground of Florida, the president and his Republican challenger were in a virtual tie.
James Borchuck/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma Press…

Martha Nunez, 53, of the Bronx, cheered as crowds watched election results in New York's Times Square.
John Minchillo/Associated Press…

Guests attended a reception in Rome organized by the Italian Democrats Abroad committee to follow the results of the U.S. presidential election early Wednesday morning.
Andrew Medichini/Associated Press…

People waited in line to cast their votes at a polling site in Valley Center, Kan. Polls were closed in many Eastern and Midwestern states as of 8 p.m. Eastern time, after a day that saw long lines at many polling places around the country. Waits in some places were reported at two hours or more.
Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency…

A staff member of Harry's New York Bar in Paris displayed the results of a 'straw vote' held for U.S. expats at the bar. Since 1924, the bar has held a straw vote, which has successfully predicted the winner of the U.S. presidential election all but twice, becoming a tradition on election night for U.S. citizens living in Paris. The outcome of the vote favored Mr. Obama, with 305 votes against 182 for Mr. Romney.
Ian Langsdon/European Pressphoto Agency…

Voters stood in line to scan their ballots at the PS 163 polling location in Manhattan. A closely divided electorate, worried about the economy and the country's direction, went to the polls to decide a presidential race that has been defined by its intensity and thin margins.
Scott Eells/Bloomberg News…

Voters waited in line at the Bobby Miller Activity Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Tuesday. Scattered problems with voting machines and poll watchers were reported across the country, mostly of the kind that are typically seen on Election Day.
Dusty Compton/Tuscaloosa News/Associated Press…

Joyce Fabre opened stacks of ballots at King County Elections headquarters on Tuesday in Renton, Wash. In Maine, Maryland and Washington state, voters decided whether to begin allowing same-sex unions.
John Lok/The Seattle Times/Associated Press…

The line of voters in Lewiston, Idaho, wended from the front doors of the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds pavilion into the parking lot Tuesday. The stream of voters was steadier through the day than most years.
Barry Kough/Lewiston Tribune/Associated Press…

Voters waited in the rain for the polls to open at the May Town Hall in May Township, Minn. In Minnesota, voters were casting ballots in several close House races, including one for Michele Bachmann's seat.
Jim Gehrz/MCT/Zuma Press…

A voter cast his ballot at a laundromat being used as a polling station in San Francisco. Californians cast ballots in dozens of tight races, including Gov. Jerry Brown's tax plan, abolishing the death penalty, easing the state's strict 'three strikes' sentencing law, and the presidential race.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News…

Donald Clark voted on a chair on the gym floor of the third ward precinct at Marcy School in Minneapolis.
Elizabeth Flores/The Star Tribune/Associated Press…

An employee of the U.S. embassy moved cardboard cutouts of Messrs. Obama and Romney at a hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador, Tuesday.
Jose Cabezas/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images…

Children from Kingdom Kinds Child Development Center marched past a polling station to get out the vote at Dunbar High School on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
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Voters waited in line to cast their ballots at the Ohio Union at Ohio State University in Columbus. Lack of staff caused delays where students waited in two-hour long lines to vote, many for the first time. There were 42 machines inside the union but many were empty because the 15 poll workers were unable to process voters fast enough. By early afternoon, additional poll workers were arriving to speed up the line.
Matt Sullivan/Reuters…

Raena Lamont, 3, wore a Captain America costume at a polling center doubling as a donation site Tuesday in the Staten Island borough of New York City. As Staten Island continues to recover from superstorm Sandy, a few polling stations have been relocated due to power outages or continuing use as an evacuation center.
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People waited in line as others voted at Grady High School in Atlanta.
John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Associated Press…

A firefighter voted in a tent being used as a polling place in Rockaway, Queens, as New York recovers from Hurricane Sandy. The aftermath of the natural disaster made Tuesday's presidential election a voting obstacle course, with dozens of polling stations in New Jersey and New York forced to relocate because of storm damage.
Mehdi Taamallah/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images…

Poll worker Geraldine Callands, right, assisted a voter inside a makeshift polling station in a tent outside P.S. 180 in the Rockaway Park area of New York, which was hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy.
Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal…

Members of the Army National Guard filled out absentee ballots in Bay Head, N.J., while temporarily stationed along the New Jersey coast to help with cleanup from Superstorm Sandy.
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People cast their ballot at a polling station in a laundromat in Chicago.
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Voters lined up to cast their ballot at the Boston Public Library.
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